From what I have read

The AMA Safety Code, which is what RC hobbyists abide by, states in Section A, Paragraph 2c that model aircraft pilots will not fly higher than approximately 400 feet above ground level within 3 miles of an airport.....without notifying the airport operator.

This has been in effect since January 1, 2014 and can be seen every month in the AMA member's Model Aviation magazine.

FAA advisory Circular

that's only for best practice but not mandatory

fwiw, the heli hit the drone not the other way around, as the hysterical media want you to get fluster'd over their perverse wording of the actual event. The bag contains a dji arm with motor. The pics of the heli's rotor blade shows very minor superficial scratches and it's entirely likely the rotor having hit the quadcopter with the rotor blade FIRST increased the velocity of the object ten or more fold thereby causing the other damage to the heli which got in it's pathway. the damage to the heli is not nose first.

If you think it's a matter of right and wrong I'd say in that extremely remote circumstance something like that happens the fs heli is to blame for flying into the quad however the quad flyer is guilty of exceeding community guidelines, but then how's he to know the height of the quad when it's up there, take a measuring tape?

In another report of the incident the article claims the drone hit two helis when the article should have read fs heli hits multi rotor quad copter toy wandering into fs airspace and is batted out of the sky by armored war time grade military flying tank. Batter up. It was hit by one of two helis flying in close proximity at the time.

You're so wrapped up in regulation this or that that you forget the errant mulit flyer who buys one could give a flyin f about waiting to read the supposed laws of the land and stay within that cage, because there are just aholes out there you know, I'm sure you do.

This thread has been some interesting enlightening reading. Mostly people talking about regulation and how it was the operator and some saying it's the full size aircraft's fault what i find the most interesting is nobody is asking why was a drone flying in an an area being used by full size aircraft. Admittedly I only took a cursory look at the article but what stands out to me is the heli was patrolling airspace for the un summit if i remember correctly so why was a drone trying to operate in this airspace at a significant altitude. I have a home in a fire prone mountain community during one of our last fires flight operations where suspended several times for unauthorized drones being in controlled airspace. What stands out to me is people have a blatant disregard for laws or the safety of others. Most of these operators are trying to get footage to sell to the 24hr news machine. Do these news outlets ask how the footage was acquired and if the operations where conducted within the FAA's guidelines for safe operation I kind of doubt it.

A bunch of words to say I think commonsense and personal responsibility are in short supply these days and if we keep this up our hobby could be in serious trouble.

A bunch of words to say I think commonsense and personal responsibility are in short supply these days and if we keep this up our hobby could be in serious trouble.

+1 there Mike

Get real, the DJI Phantom was not anywhere close to being flown in the correct airspace. There was a Notam/TFR in effect (see example below) and the NY airspace is already heavily permanently restricted with a FRZ (Flight Restricted Zone).
Helicopters are allowed to operate @ and below 500 feet AGL. This is ALL on the Phantom pilot. I can almost guarantee this individual will be caught and punished.

VIP Notice - New York, NY.
Notice Number: NOTC7381

Notice: Expect VIP movement September 26, 2017 in the vicinity of New York, NY. Pilots can expect airspace restrictions in conjunction with this VIP movement. The FAA recommends that all aircraft operators check NOTAMs OFTEN for mandatory airspace restrictions prior to operations within this region.

Specific instructions and restrictions are available at http://tfr.faa.gov once the NOTAM has been issued.

*Depicted TFR data may not be a complete listing. Pilots should not use the information on this website for flight planning purposes. For the latest information, call your local Flight Service Station at 1-800-WX-BRIEF.

Got it right that time !

Been there, done that and old enough to know better.....

mike123 : Someday I'll get it.

You got it. I wear out the 'preview' function when I post. I always mess up some formatting, and end up with 3 or 4 revisions before I actually post. Even then I normally end up editing the post! So don't feel like you're alone there...

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